Good, easy to read magic books?

Sep 7, 2017
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Hey, guys. I've been doing magic for about 6 years now. I have read book's like Royal Road and Card College. I don't really read a lot of magic books, because I am young and I find most magic books hard to read. I don't think they are boring, just hard to read. I can't even read Expert Card Technique. So my question is are there any other good books that are easy to read? Also, is it bad that most of my magic comes from lectures, downloads, and DVDs?
 
Jan 26, 2017
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Nothing bad in learning from dvds and downloads, But lectures and books will get you a lot more info. However downloads and dads are specializes on the subject, so less info, more quality. There's a plus and minus to everything, so it's fine if you find a good download.


The Card College Light series is pretty good. It focuses on great self working tricks.

Honestly, magic books are kinda mislabeled as books. They are really more like textbooks. They are not many easy reads.
 
Jul 28, 2015
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95
If you've been 6 years in magic then I would encourage you to read more, in my experience once you have a good magic background having all the basics and concepts down it gets a lot easier to read and understand magic books...
 
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WitchDocIsIn

Elite Member
Sep 13, 2008
5,877
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Two things - 1) Learning from books is a skill. You just need practice in building that skill set. 2) Magic uses complicated physical moves which can be tricky to describe in text. This goes back to learning from books being a skill.

Learning from books means you have to be able to take the text and visualize what it is communicating to you before trying to do whatever it is teaching. The casual reader is going to have trouble learning from books - you have to focus and study. These are technical manuals, not stories.
 
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Aug 15, 2017
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I will get straight to an answer...i think I have given this before...
Complete Idiot's guide to street magic.
It is the best book that I have read in a long time obviously the methods are nothing to compare with maybe the modern coin magic or the Royal Road...but whatever they have said is really practical magic. Pics are great.
But I also agree wid the others. And once you learn how to learn magic from books, you have a great skill to last for the rest of your life
 

Josh Burch

Elite Member
Aug 11, 2011
2,966
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Utah
Reading from magic books is tough for sure! I think it is a skill that will pay off in the long run.

What is tripping you up? Are the words understandable? Are you having a hard time following along?

My favorite books on close up magic are The Art of Astonishment books. I love reading them but it's always tough to follow along.
 
Hey Ryan,

The reason why you may find magic books difficult to read may be because they are written in an instructional manner. Most young students are not used to reading "instructional pamphlets." We all grew up reading novels right?

I had to take some time myself to get used to reading magic books. I suggest that you read slowly and patiently. If you ever come across something you don't understand, you can always ask us here in the forums. Even today, I'm reading around 10-15 pages an hour when going through magic books to make sure I'm understanding everything. The prose that some magicians write in can be confusing, but if you take your time, you will digest it all. Learning magic is not and never will be a race.

I hope this helps.
 
Jul 26, 2016
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Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic is very easy to read. It is filled with many excellent tricks of all kinds with nice clear illustrations. I believe a person could build a professional act (close-up or stage) just from the well-explained material in this book.
 
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Jan 26, 2017
2,173
1,338
23
Virginia
Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic is very easy to read. It is filled with many excellent tricks of all kinds with nice clear illustrations. I believe a person could build a professional act (close-up or stage) just from the well-explained material in this book.
I agree. I'm reading it right now. It's Pretty easy to read. You could possibly build your whole career on it if you had to!
 

DanielG2

Elite Member
Nov 4, 2013
6
2
I would advice going through and reading your old books slowly, get a feel for reading magic books. It was hard for me first aswell but with time comes understanding. I would suggest maybe going over Royal Road again and make sure you understand the subtleties that is mentioned.

Nothing wrong with learning from other matters were in 2017.
I woul also recommend to get drawing room deceptions by Guy Hollingworth whenever you are comfirtable with magic books, but i would advice you get through S.W.E. before that, i find the instructional form to be simillar.

Have a good one!
-Daniel
 

RealityOne

Elite Member
Nov 1, 2009
3,744
4,076
New Jersey
My sense is that our usual recommendations of Royal Road and Erdnase's Expert at the Card Table turn people off to books. I love books but I struggled through Royal Road - pretty much skimming the last third of the book. Great stuff in it, but the writing is dated. I've tried to read Expert at the Card Table but could never get the love and obsession devoted to that book. Despite my love for Encyclopedia of Card Tricks, I can only read a chapter at a time without getting bored. I probably should read Tarbell cover to cover, but I find myself using it more as a reference.

That said, Card College is an easier read, but still seems very much like a textbook. But then, recent books like Impossibilia, Art of Astonishment, Books of Wonder, One Degree, Conjuring, Prism, Vortex, Aretology of Vanni Bossi, Drawing Room Deceptions are a joy to read and difficult to put down. In fact, I find myself reading the books and then going back and working though the routines that I like.
 
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